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Using research and evidence to improve student retention
and success
Professor Liz Thomas
OverviewIntroducing EvidenceNet and the Widening Participation
Research Service (WPRS)What the student retention and success synthesis tells us
• Definitions and understandings of retention and success• Which students leave higher education early• Reasons for non-completion• Approaches to improving student retention and success
Introduction to the Theory of Change model of improving retention and success
Applying this model to participants own area of work
Introducing EvidenceNet and the Widening Participation Research Service
EvidenceNet
EvidenceNet is a service to promote and explore the use of practice- and research-based evidence in teaching and learning in Higher Education.
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/research/evidencenet
Widening Participation Research Service (WPRS)
The WPRS aims to support all staff in Higher Education with a widening Participation remit.
It provides access to research information, services and resources thereby supporting the embedding of diversity and widening participation throughout the student lifecycle.
The Organisation Directory details national and international organisations related to widening participation.
The Literature Database includes recent journal articles and reports concerning widening participation.
The Practice Directory provides details of specific projects in the field of WP.
WPRS Searchable Research Serviceshttp://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/institutions/wp
Current topics:
• New to WP?
• Retention and student success
• Vocational learners
• Mature learners
WPRS Research Syntheseshttp://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/institutions/wp/wprs
Planned topics:• Inclusive learning and teaching
• Improving the success of black and minority ethnic students
• US research on student retention and persistence
• Models of student support
• Disabled students
• Impact of class, gender and ethnicity on access and success
• Flexible learning and widening participation
WPRS Research Syntheses
The WPRS will form a key strand of the Higher Education Academy’s EvidenceNet; this will ensure its on-going sustainability.
EvidenceNet is in at the end of the first phase of development. Phase 1 will be launched at the Academy's Annual Conference in June 2009. This will include:
• a searchable repository of resources, events and networks from the Academy and beyond.
• a star rating feature to enable users to rate resources.
WPRS: Future developments
What do we already know?
Widening Participation Research Service (WPRS)
Student retention and success synthesis (Jones 2008)
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/institutions/wp/wprs
Funding Council (HEFCE) definitions
Completion rate: the proportion of starters in a year who continue their studies until they obtain their qualification, with no more than one consecutive year out of higher education.
Continuation rate: the proportion of an institution’s intake which is enrolled in higher education in the year following their first entry to higher education.
Who leaves HE?What is the relationship between WP and retention?
Government reports
National Audit Office (NAO): retention has not improved between 2002 and 2007
Public Accounts Committee (PAC): concerned this is due to WP and thus greater diversity might worsen retention rates
MPs’ interpretation (PAC report)
Increasing and widening participation in higher education attracts more students from under-represented groups who are more likely to withdraw from courses early. These students may need more support to complete their courses. Universities need to understand the needs of their changing student populations. PAC recommendation 2
Expert opinion (PAC report)The Department recognises the tension between
widening participation and non-completion, and the Government’s previous target required progress on both retention and participation. In recent years, retention has held up while participation has increased and the Funding Council sees no reason to think that the retention rates will fall as further progress is made towards 50% participation. (PAC, paragraph 6).
Research evidence (NAO report)NAO (2002 and 2007) and other studies suggest it is not the
background of the students which is most influential, but rather entry qualifications.
Entry qualifications also account for much of the institutional differences that can be observed across the sector, hence the NAO (2007) finding that most institutions meet or exceed their benchmarks.
Correlation between occupational class and probability of early withdrawal (Smith and Naylor 2001). But, this is not necessarily causal and is likely to be linked to entry qualifications.
Institutional research evidenceInstitutional research at Roehampton University (Curtis
2007) analysed the planning data for the 2005/06 academic year. The following factors were correlated with non-continuation (statistically significant p. < 0.01):
• Type of qualifications (those with non-A-levels qualifications were more likely to leave);
• Level of tariff points (those with lower tariff points were more likely to leave);
• Gender (males were more likely to leave);
• Entry (those coming through clearing were more likely to leave).
Why do students leave higher education?
Why students leave
There is rarely a single reason why students leave. Contributing factors are:
• Preparation for higher education
• Institutional and course match
• Academic experience
• Social integration
• Financial issues
• Personal circumstances
How can we improve student retention and success?
Factors improving retention• Pre-entry information, preparation and admission
• Induction and transition support
• Curriculum development
• Social engagement
• Student support
• Data and monitoring
• Institutional commitment to retention and management of the process
Theory of Change Locates work in the literature and existing
good practice Identifies 3 inter-connected layers
Pre-conditions for improving student retention and success
Influential factors Examples of effective practice
Summarised visually
Activity Select a host for the table For the theme you have been allocated, identify
influential factors contributing to achieving this pre-condition.
Identify examples of effective practices you know of or are currently using in your institution.
When asked to move, the host should remain with the table.
On new table, host will summarise existing thinking. Add further influential factors and examples of effective practice.
Retention Grants Programme
Retention Grants ProgrammeNAO (2007) and PAC (2008): Lack of progress and
lack of evidence about what works.
£1 million (Paul Hamlyn Foundation and HEFCE) to support projects that identify, evaluate and disseminate good practice.
The primary purpose of the programme is to generate robust, evidence-based analysis and evaluation about the most effective strategies to ensure high continuation and completion rates.
What are we doing?Seven projects have been funded and a support and co-
ordination team which aims to:1.To support individual projects to enhance
development, evaluation and collaborative dissemination;
2.To co-ordinate inter-project working to further the learning and dissemination across the 7 funded projects;
3.To undertake meta evaluation and analysis of effective strategies to support retention;
4.To promote dissemination and learning across the HE sector.
Dissemination Opportunities Student retention and success community of
interest Biannual briefings throughout the programme Two day retention convention, Leeds, 3rd and
4th March 2010 Ongoing National Research Seminar Series Final dissemination conference 2012 Publications.
More information:Student retention and success JISC list email
Retention Grants Programme visit the website at http://www.phf.org.uk/landing.asp?id=367 or email [email protected]
Widening Participation Research Service:
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/institutions/wp/wprs or email [email protected]
Email [email protected] or [email protected]
ReferencesCurtis, A. (2007) Student Retention Guide for Academic Staff. London:
Roehampton University
Jones, R (2008) Student retention and success. Research Synthesis. York: Higher Education Academy
National Audit Office (NAO) (2007) Staying the course: the retention of students in higher education. London: The Stationary Office
House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts Committee (2008) Staying the course: the retention of students on higher education courses. Tenth report of session 2007-8. London: The Stationery Office Ltd
Smith, J. and Naylor, R.A. (2001) ‘Dropping out of university: a statistical analysis of the probability of withdrawal for UK university students’, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 164, No. 2, pp. 389–405
